CFB Esquimalt / navy news

Cfax1070 is reporting this morning that HMCS Protecteur has suffered an engine-room fire and several crew members have minor injuries. It's currently near Hawaii, and will return under limited power to Pearl Harbour for repairs.

She is 100,000+ tons and slightly over 300 meters in length which is the standard for the Nimitz-class carriers. Which would have meant she was significantly bigger than the norm for cruise ships however you do need to remember she is now nearly 40 years old - due for retirement in ~ a decade, about 2025 - and the cruise line industry has been building their ships bigger and bigger especially since the launch of the Queen Mary II.

Ha, great question. The first commercial-passenger nuke-powered ship after all was launched nearly 60 years ago (NS/SS Savannah and long since decommissioned of course, in 1972). Along with a couple of Soviet-era icebreakers she was one of maybe 4-5 commercial non-military nuclear vessels ever built.

I suspect though disposing of the waste from retiring cruise ships - how many are there globally??? - would be a massive problem simply not worth contemplating.

It certainly is an impressive ship. I'd love to see some takeoff and landings off that sucker!

Think loud jonny....REAL loud. Got to experience it way back in 1975 when this ship was new, also when working and staying in Pensacola FLA a few years back prior to "Iraq II" when the USS John F Kennedy had her air group practising night take-off and landings in Pensacola Bay. Sounds literally like the hand of God.

Think loud jonny....REAL loud. Got to experience it way back in 1975 when this ship was new, also when working and staying in Pensacola FLA a few years back prior to "Iraq II" when the USS John F Kennedy had her air group practising night take-off and landings in Pensacola Bay. Sounds literally like the hand of God.

Yeah, I can imagine. I've seen a couple of air shows, and those fighter jets are extremely loud then. A bunch of those flying around must make quite the racket, especially over water and especially at night!

Reminds me of when I was living down south and heard a sonic boom from the space shuttle...now that was startling! I thought the world was coming to an end for a second there.

Navy to drop four ships, will need stop-gaps until new vessels are built

Two of the fleet's three destroyers, HMCS Iroquois and Algonquin, and both supply vessels, HMCS Preserver and HMCS Protecteur, have made their last voyages and will be decommissioned, Vice-Admiral Mark Norman said Friday.

Norman, commander of the Royal Canadian Navy, said the retirements have been in the cards for some time, but other developments speeded up the plans.

In addition to general wear and tear from four decades at sea, Algonquin and Protecteur both were involved in serious accidents recently.

Given that they were slated for retirement shortly, there was no point in repairing them.

The Canadian military has emerged as a potential destination for the controversial French-built Mistral-class helicopter carrier ships, built for Russia, the International Business Times is reporting.

The possibility of a Canadian solution appeared in French media after French President François Hollande visited Canada this week, the newspaper reported.

This type of suggestion has surfaced before. Former Conservative Senator Hugh Segal suggested that Canada or NATO should buy the Mistral-class military assault ships rather than allow them to be added to the Russia naval fleet.